How to polish resin jewelry and resin polishing
Resin jewelry has become very popular as makers can create truly original pieces. The processes to make resin jewelry are quite simple using easy-to-use molds and resins. This article will look at finishing resin jewelry using resin buffing and polishing methods to create professional quality jewelry pieces.
Once your jewelry piece has been demolded and fully cured, you can refine the jewelry pieces appearance by drilling, sanding, grinding, or polishing. Be sure to wear a mask when applying any of these techniques, as they will create a fine resin dust that you don’t want to inhale.
Hand sanded and polished or polished
For starters, you may need to use coarse sandpaper to remove any obvious bumps and blemishes. A 100 to 180 grit grade is best suited for this task. A wooden sanding block can help sand down just the high spots for a smooth finish.
We can then move on to wet and dry sandpaper for finer sanding with grits starting at 320 and up to 400. You can sand the item under running water if you want to reduce dust. You can go to even finer grits from 600 to 1500 to achieve glass-like surfaces.
A final polish is needed to bring the surface to a high shine. We usually use a polishing compound for polishing resins and a cloth.
Note: This method only applies to polyurethane and polyester resins. With epoxy resins, resin polishing is not recommended. Instead, we suggest you recoat the sanded surface with resin to create a high gloss. Special coating resins are designed for this task.
polishing machine
Resin polishing can be sped up by using machine polishers. However, care must be taken with the buffer speed. If the speeds are too high, the resin can soften and leave white marks on the surface.
Drilling
For the same reasons as with machine polishing, drilling should also be done at low speed. Bits can also clog if the resin gets too hot and softens.
Be sure to secure the small piece of jewelry so that a straight hole can be drilled. We have tried various materials to put between a vise and the piece of jewelry so that it does not mark the delicate resin surface and have found leather to be ideal.
If at any time you make a mistake with your perforation you can repair it with additional resin mixture.
Placement of jewelry findings
When attaching accessories to jewelry pieces, epoxy glue is best suited. The 5-10 minute type of setup is ideal. You can also use your original resin mix to attach accessories. Let rest overnight.
To achieve a matte finish
An interesting and different way to finish resin jewelry is to give the pieces a matte finish. This can be done by sandblasting the cured part. If you don’t have access to a sandblaster, small units are available at a cheap price and they are powered by a can of compressed air. Alternatively, you can use a pumice polishing compound to give your pieces a matte finish.